Mythigore | A Fablehaven and Dragonwatch Adventure |

Chapter Four - "Jeopardize"

Seth had slept heavily throughout the night. Even if something had ended up breaking into his room, he doubted he would have noticed. Seth now stood on the front porch, looking out into the silent woods of fablehaven. Waiting. Watching.

He tapped his fingers on the side of his leg. The plan him and his family discussed could go wrong in a lot of ways. More ways than it could go right. They had come to an understanding that if anything were to go wrong, they were to shield Seth immediately. He didn't like the idea of everyone jumping in the way just to keep him safe. Seth was sixteen for crying out loud. He knew when to back down. Sure, it didn't always mean he would. But at least he knew.

The other thing that kept his thoughts busy was his parents. Though this stunt hasn't turned into a full on adventure or mission, it was their first time against dark creatures. Well, other than the Sphinx, who was a full shadow charmer at the time. Now his powers were blocked. Most of them, anyway.

His parents job for the plan was for the two of them to take positions on the upper floor, armed with a bow and some arrows. They were supposed to be placed at Seth's window, while Dale and Warren were at the kitchen windows.

Filling Dale in on the plan had been a little more difficult then Seth had liked. Having to explain all the weird things that had happened last night left him tense. Just the memory of the voices inky tones made him shiver. Dale had gotten back early this morning, telling the Sorensons that Hugo was no where to be seen, no matter how far he went out into Fablehaven.

Seth had wondered what had happened to Hugo. He missed the big golem greeting him every time he came outside. Things felt a little less like home without him. Sure it had only been a day and a half, but it was enough for Seth to miss him.

As Seth stood there thinking, the temperature around him dropped, and his attention went to the sky. Gray clouds started to cover the blue azure, casting a shadow around the Sorenson home. The Wind picked up, sweeping Seth's hair in all sorts of diffrent directions. The tough air pushed him forward on the porch until he reach the edge of it.

"Shadow Healer!" Boomed a loud, and deep voice that shook the earth.

Seth eyes shot straight forward as a dark, inky shadow started to emerge from the front lawn. He stumbled off of the porch as the shaking of the ground brought him off balance. He managed to stay on his feet as the thing in front of him grew larger by the second.

Jaw dropped, and eyes wide with both surprise and fear, Seth stood nailed in place. He kept having to crane his neck back as the thing reach thirty feet tall, and continued to get bigger. The wind wailed through the air, and the clouds looked heavy, like they were about to drop from the sky.

The things stopped expanding in size once it reach somewhere Seth guess was forty or fifty feet. The head of the beast looked down at Seth with terrifyingly large, and hollow eye sockets, with something glowing in each to make it look like his empty eyes had pupils.

Seth tried not to gulp. He didn't expect the reinforcements to be so... Horrifying.

The thing's curvy, pitch black hand reached down toward him. It was so dark, Seth thought he was looking into an abyss. The hand dripped like it had just come out of water, but the water was pure darkness. An oddly shaped finger pointed at Seth.

"Hello, young one," The voice pierced both Seth's ears and mind. Its sickly voice thundered through the now dim afternoon. "We meet at last..."

Seth bit the inside of his cheek. There was no way the courage potions everyone took could keep them from the fear this thing gave off. Even Seth himself was struggling against it. "What do you want?" He choked out.

The beast's sockets widened in what Seth could only assume was surprise. "You don't feel fear in my presents?"

Oh, Seth could feel it. But to him, a lot of it felt like a winter blizzard. "Nope," he said as causally as possible.

"And how is that?" The beast questioned.

"Don't feel like it," Seth tried. He was trying to lighten his own mood, and it wasn't working very well.

The unknown behemoth looked unimpressed with his response. "I have never met a Shadow healer in my million years of life," It said. "But even Shadow Charmers ran in fear, and froze at the sight of me."

Million years? So Seth was up against a living fossil who could squish him under its thumb? That made him feel a whole lot better with his circumstances. Kendra and the others where most likely frozen, and he was on his own while he chatted with the devil. What luck.

The area around Seth became colder, and he began to see his breath puff out in a cloud of white every time he exhaled. "W-well," Seth forced from his throat. "Maybe the transition from a Charmer to a Healer made me even more immune."

"Ah, yes," Its deep voice rumbled. "Which brings us to why I am here."

Seth swallowed, and took a step back. Maybe the magical fear was at bay, but his regular fear was through the roof. He had to stay strong. He had to stay strong. If something went wrong during this thing's visit, it would be his fault, and his fault alone. There was no Newel and Doren to talk trash, or encourage him to make a break for it.

Seth forced a smile to cross his lips. "Before we talk about that, I don't believe I got a name," He laughed uneasily.

The beast bent down so his face was a close as it could be to Seth without filling the whole yard. "I am Desourgress. Ruler of the Shadow Realm," He said proudly. "And you are supposed to come with me."

Seth's eyes winded even more. Heart pounding in his hands and head, he was about to make a move to run, but stopped himself. This thing wasn't a mistress. He wasn't here working for himself, right? Unless Desourgress had nothing to do with the voices Seth had conversed with last night. If so, then what on earth was the ruler of the Shadow Realm doing in the Sorenson's front lawn?

"May I ask why?" Seth asked carefully.

"Three very important beings have grown rather fond of you, Seth Sorenson," He said, standing back up, but continuing to look down at Seth. "And I am simply repaying a debt that I own them by retrieving you."

Three brings? Mistresses? Okay, whoever was looking for Seth had to be the singing sisters. There was no doubt in his mind now. But how did they get something like Desourgress to owe them a favor? If the ruler of the shadow realm needed the singing sisters help with something, maybe Seth and everyone else who had visited them had underestimated just how powerful the sisters really were.

"Now..." Desourgress growled, lowering an open hand toward Seth, who backed away, and tried to run. But just has he turned around to book it into the house, the hand closed around Seth, encasing him in the ruler's palm. "Let's get this over with."

"Wait!" Seth cried out in desperation. "You can't! W-what about the things you were supposed to show up with?" He improvised to stall for time.

"Things?" Questioned Desourgress.

"Yeah," Seth swallowed. "There were some other things that visited me just last night. They were trying to convince me to become a shadow charmer again."

"Ah..." Desourgress sung. "The whispers. There isn't not need to wait for them. They're already with the mistresses."

Seth could feel the big, powerful ruler start to move, but he couldn't see where they were going. Everything was black inside the palm of the beast. He wasn't sure how Desourgress could hear Seth's voice through his hand, but he was grateful. That made it so he could try and keep him from rushing off with Seth too quickly.

"Let's talk about this," Seth tried. "You don't have to take me to them!"

The closed around him tightened, and Seth breathing became labored. When Desourgress didn't respond, Seth just started pleading for him to stop, saying he had the wrong person. But his pleas fell on deaf ears as the ruler continued to move without a word.

This wasn't going to end well.